JKR

Mother have put on a fashion show for Target as a huge live event with models filling the huge windows of New York’s Standard hotel (the footage reminded me of Elvis and dancers in Jailhouse Rock). Meanwhile, a huge billboard campaign for Sky Arts takes up the length of Tottenham Court Road and other locations with Rankin photographs creating a “street gallery”.

Both are examples of designing advertising as “events”. It sounds pretty obvious that if a bit of free PR can be generated by an ad, then it works the budget harder. But both are also good examples of design which reflects the brand’s proposition or equities. In Sky Arts case, the “gallery” approach is obviously fitting and in Target’s, the building was turned into a vast light show which chimes with the brand’s bold graphics. As branding continues to be applied in a 360 way, the equities at a brand’s core become ever more important to define in order to support such stretches of communication.